


Pro Patria Mori

by yuletide_archivist



Category: CSI: Crime Scene Investigation, NCIS
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2004-12-22
Updated: 2004-12-22
Packaged: 2018-01-25 04:01:06
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,531
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1630397
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/yuletide_archivist/pseuds/yuletide_archivist
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>"Well, this is where it gets complicated. Seems our young lady is the seagoing type.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Pro Patria Mori

**Author's Note:**

> Written for Lovely Poet

 

 

**One**

"Victim is female, Caucasian, about twenty-five." Brass gestured towards the shadow at the bottom of the ravine. "Some mountain bikers found her this morning. No obvious signs of foul play."

Grissom turned towards Brass. "They found her this morning? Why weren't we informed immediately?"

"Well, this is where it gets complicated. Seems our young lady is the seagoing type."

Grissom cocked an eyebrow.

"Navy." Brass sighed. "We had to call NCIS." He looked at his watch. "They should be here any minute."

"I don't think so." Grissom looked calm, but Brass could tell he was gritting his teeth. "This is my crime scene."

"I thought you'd feel that way. That's why I got you involved." Brass shook his head. "We have to play nice with NCIS, though." He shifted uncomfortably. "They want to take the case back to Virginia."

"Obviously they've never heard the old saying."

"What saying is that?"

Grissom shone his flashlight down the ravine. "What happens in Vegas, stays in Vegas."

>>

David stood up from where he was crouched next to the body and brushed off the knees of his pants. "I'll have to get her back for a more definitive answer, but it looks like the fall is what killed her." He gently lifted the victim's twisted, limp neck. "Multiple cervical and thoracic vertebral fractures."

"Broken neck." Warrick snapped another picture. "At least that's usually a quick way to go."

"I'll have more info for you later." David motioned for the two EMTs to put her on the gurney.

"No," Grissom appeared out of the darkness. "You'll have information for me _sooner_. Our vic had Naval ID. NCIS is on their way." He nodded at Warrick. "We need this air-tight, and we need it yesterday. We're going to need as much manpower as we can on this case, but we've got that break-in out in Leighton to deal with. Think you can handle it alone?"

Warrick nodded. "You got it boss, I'll let Sara know."

"I'm sending Catherine down here to give her a hand. Nick and Greg are back at the lab, waiting to process the vic's personal effects."

Sara walked over, holding up a battered black purse. "Jeanne Clarendon. Twenty-four, Petty Officer Third Class. Stationed at Fallon Naval Air Base ."

"That's a good eight hours from here." Grissom frowned. "Let's find out everything we can about Petty Officer Clarendon, shall we? What was she doing in Vegas? Where was she staying--"

"You can just hold that train of thought." An older man with military bearing marched up to them, flashing a badge. "Gibbs. NCIS. This investigation is ours, Mr. Grissom. This is Agent Todd and Agent DiNozzo. Agent McGee is on his way."

"Doctor."

"Excuse me?"

"Doctor Grissom. This is Warrick Brown and Sara Sidle. And no, this is my scene, my team, my investigation." He paused, and added, "We'll keep you informed."

"It was our case first." Gibbs frowned. "Petty Officer Clarendon's family in Virginia is pretty worried. She's been missing for a week."

The young woman with him stepped forward. "Okay, listen, Doctor Grissom. We all want to get to the bottom of this. Let's just work together and let our bosses figure out the jurisdiction, okay?" She shot an apprehensive glance at Gibbs. "We'll use your facilities and staff, and you can use our team."

"Just like one big happy family," smirked the man next to her. He winked at Sara. "Hey, how you doing?"

Grissom didn't need to look to picture Sara's eye-roll. Sara returned to sorting the contents of the purse. "Our friend here was a busy girl. She went to no less than five casinos last night: The Bellagio, the Hard Rock, the Mirage, the Luxor, and the Gold Spike."

"The Gold Spike?" Grissom asked.

Sara nodded. "Yeah. Why would someone spend half the night on the strip in swank casinos, then go to a dive like the Gold Spike?"

"She ran out of money?" Gibbs suggested.

"If you lose a hundred dollars in the slots at the Bellagio, and you lose a hundred dollars at the slots at the Spike, you've still lost a hundred dollars."

"You've got a point," Gibbs said. "Kate! Tony! I want you with this young lady--"

"Sara."

"Sara. Search the casinos and find out who she talked to, who she danced with. Hell, I want to know who served her drinks. You got it?"

"Yes, boss."

"It looks like I'm late to the party." Catherine walked up, surveying the scene.

"No, you're right on time." Grissom pointed around the group. "Agent Gibbs, Agent Todd Agent DiNozzo. NCIS."

Catherine raised her eyebrows. "Catherine Willows. I didn't realize this was going to be such a party."

"Catherine, why don't you join Sara, Agent Todd, and Agent DiNozzo. They'll fill you in on the way to the Spike."

"The Spike, huh? Classy." She turned and followed the others up the ravine.

"We need to find out why she was in Vegas." Gibbs flipped open his cell phone. "I'm going to call her CO at Fallon." Gibbs put his hand over the bottom of his phone. "Call McGee," he said to Kate. "Tell him to turn around and head back to the Las Vegas crime lab. He can help out back there."

Grissom nearly protested, but decided that it was a waste of time. These Feds were going to need their help if they wanted to solve this case, and for all his bluster, Agent Gibbs knew it.

**Two**

Dr. Robbins looked up from the young lady in front of him and waved Nick closer. "Cause of death is what we had suspected. The impact from the fall snapped the first three thoracic vertebrae. The bone shards nearly severed the spinal column."

Nick walked around the table slowly. "I don't see any defensive wounds."

"No, the fall seems to be completely accidental."

"Nick, Dr. Robbins." Greg ushered a nervous-looking young man into the morgue. "This is Agent McGee from NCIS."

"Good, I'm glad you're here. I was just telling Nick that Miss Clarendon's death was caused, as we thought, by the fall."

Agent McGee nodded. "Nothing...unusual?"

"I did find something interesting when I checked her genital area." He walked around the table towards her feet. "Though she doesn't have any sign of defensive wounds or serious sexual assault, she's had a significant amount of sexual activity in the past several weeks."

Nick shrugged. "Maybe she came to Vegas to party."

Dr. Robbins shook his head. "I'm seeing tissue damage that is more consistent with repeated rape or a highly aggressive partner. Possibly multiple partners."

Greg stuck his hands in his pockets and rocked back on his heels. "Well, some people like to take...you know...a more... _passive_ role in certain, shall we say, _scenarios_."

McGee shuffled his feet and nodded quickly. "Yes, yes. No. I mean, yes. I get what you're saying."

Nick just grinned widely at Greg with his arms crossed. "And I suppose you know some clubs or something, G? Anything we should check out?" He winked.

"As a matter of fact, I..." Greg noticed the bemused looks he was getting from around the room. "It's not really relevant to the case."

"So," McGee cleared his throat. "We're sure she wasn't raped?"

"Not recently, as far as I can tell." Dr. Robbins held up a small test tube. "But I think you can ask her last partner that for yourself."

"You were able to get a semen sample?" Greg said. "What are we waiting for, then?"

"I assume NCIS has information on any relationships Miss Clarendon might have had?" Nick asked McGee.

"Petty Officer Clarendon had a relationship with Mr. Brian Tanner, a civilian. According to her family, it wasn't very serious."

Greg ushered Nick and McGee out into the hallway. "I'm thinking that we're going to want to get up close and personal with Mr. Tanner's epithelials."

McGee rummaged in his coat pocket for his phone. "I'll call the office and get an agent out to Mr. Tanner's house."

Nick nodded. "And I'd better give Sara and Catherine the heads-up about Miss Clarendon's extracurricular activities."

**Three**

As soon as the door of the Gold Spike swung open, Kate started choking. The cloud of cigarette smoke was like an impenetrable, burning, nauseating wall. She could just make out dimly blinking slot machines and flashes of skin through the haze.

"They don't believe in air filters, huh?"

"Not at the Spike." Catherine said wryly.

"Ahhhh, yes." Tony clapped his hands together. "This is real Vegas. Rat Pack Vegas. Down-and-dirty Vegas." Swiveling his head to follow a passing cocktail waitress, he slung his arm around Kate. "How do you think I'd look in a white tuxedo, Agent Todd?"

She extricated herself from under his arm with a slight shudder. "I think powder blue is more your style."

Sara leaned over to her and whispered, "You work with him? Every _day_?"

Kate pressed her lips together. "Our desks are right next to each other."

Sara grimaced sympathetically and followed Catherine to the bar.

Catherine flashed her ID at the bartender. He was about thirty, and looked a little like a young Tom Hanks -- if Tom Hanks had bad skin and a penchant for shirts from "Dragon's Lair Tattoo Parlor."

"Catherine Willows, Las Vegas crime lab."

"Yeah? Can I help you?" he asked, obviously bored.

"Have you seen this woman?" She put Jeanne Clarendon's photograph down on the bar.

"Uhhhh....yeah. Actually, yeah, I do remember her. She was here last night. She was wasted."

Tony carefully glanced at the other patrons. "And this is unusual?"

"Nah, I mean really wasted. We had to kick her out."

"Was she alone?" Kate asked.

"She had a guy with her. He was young, just barely twenty-one. I remember because I carded him. He wasn't drinking, though. He said he was giving her a ride." He shrugged. "The only reason I didn't call the cops is because he said he'd take care of her."

"I bet he did." Sara said. "Did they say where they were going?"

"No, she was just screaming about it being too late, or something. I remember she wouldn't stop touching the customers."

"Touching?" Catherine said.

"Yeah, she kept grabbing men and begging them to come home with her. It was pretty pathetic. I figure she'd had a bad breakup or something."

"Do you know where they went?" Kate asked.

"No, sorry."

She handed him her card. "Call my cell if you remember anything else."

"Sure."

They pushed their way through the crowd and out into the cool, fresh, night air. "We should split up," Catherine said. "I'll take the Mirage and the Luxor."

"That leaves me with the Bellagio and the Hard Rock." Sara smiled at Kate. "Agent Todd, are you with me?"

"Wait a minute." Catherine held up her hand. "I'm ranking CSI here. _I_ should get Agent Todd."

"Hey!" Tony spread his hands. "I'll have you know that I'm a valuable investigator." He tapped his temple. "Mind like a steel trap, baby."

Sara and Catherine looked at each other. Sara sighed. "Flip you for it?"

**Four**

"How are we doing on that boyfriend, Nick?" Grissom asked as Nick walked into his office.

"They have a location and a DNA sample. If you want to come down to Trace, McGee is setting up a video feed with their tech."

Grissom said, "I'll be down in just a minute. Agent Gibbs just got the call back from Fallon."

"You got it."

Gibbs walked back in, nodded a curt hello to Nick, and said "Petty Officer Clarendon had requested a 96-hour pass two weeks prior to her disappearance."

"All that tells us is that she planned a vacation."

"She told her CO that her grandmother was in the hospital with diabetes."

"Let me guess." Grissom tilted his head to one side. "Granny died ten years ago."

"Granny is alive and well and playing eighteen holes a day in Redondo Beach." Gibbs crossed his arms. "And that's not all."

Grissom cocked one eyebrow inquiringly.

"Petty Officer Clarendon was scheduled for an eighteen-month deployment in the Persian Gulf."

"Starting when?"

"In six weeks."

"I wonder how her boyfriend felt about that." Grissom held his office door open for Gibbs.

"Hopefully, Abby will have some answers for us."

>>>

"So," Abby said, clapping her hands. "How's Vegas? Did you meet Wayne Newton? You know, there's this little club on East Desert Inn Rd--"

"Warder?" Greg pointed at the laptop screen. "I've been there!"

"Abby!" Gibbs barked. "We're not here to socialize."

"Fine, fine. I'm just bitter that you all went to Vegas without me." She tapped a few keys on her computer. "Petty Officer Clarendon's parents provided us with Mr. Tanner's address. He was more than willing to give us a DNA sample."

"Do we have a match?" Nick asked.

"Yes and no. _Some_ of the DNA that was collected from the victim matched Mr. Tanner, but there were only trace amounts of it and it was at least two weeks old."

"Who was the other donor?" Grissom said.

"You'll have to ask _your_ lab about that. I can tell you that the DNA evidence corroborates Mr. Tanner's story, which was that he had come to Fallon two weeks ago." She hid a grin behind her mesh-gloved hand. "That's a long way to travel for a booty call."

Gibbs rolled his eyes. "Thanks, Abs. We'll call you if we need anything." He shut the laptop.

"Wow." Greg breathed. "I think I'm in love."

"Easy, cowboy." Nick slung an arm around him and pulled him back from the computer.

"Yeah, easy there." McGee straightened his shirt. "Cowboy." He made a nervous, sideways motion with his head.

"Any luck from our lab, Greg?" Grissom asked.

"Kim says she'll have the results for us within the hour."

"Tell her we need it sooner than that." Grissom said, as he walked back out into the hallway.

Greg winced, with a slightly pained look on his face.

McGee patted his shoulder awkwardly. "I know how it is. You can't hurry technology."

**Five**

Sara was on the phone with Catherine, navigating the Strip traffic. "We're headed to the Bellagio. Any luck finding out where the vic was actually staying?"

"Yeah, she was staying at the Mirage. We're here now. I'll fill you in as soon as I can drag Agent DiNozzo away from the blackjack tables."

Sara just grinned. "Gotcha."

"You owe me for this, Sidle."

Sara clicked the phone shut. "Catherine and Tony are at the Mirage, where Petty Officer Clarendon was staying."

"We'll join them as soon as we track down our mysterious `Jason'."

The bartender at the Spike had called Catherine about an hour ago, saying that he'd thought that the drunk girl was calling her guy friend "Jason". In the dumpster at the Hard Rock, Kate and Sara had found a piece of notepaper matching the notebook they'd found in the victim's purse. It had the name "Jason" scrawled on it, along with the number for the front desk of the Bellagio.

They walked up to the smooth, elegant, ivory desk. Between the glass sculptures, the fountains, and the conservatory, the Bellagio resembled nothing more than a bizarrely gilded castle fortress.

"May I help you?" The woman behind the desk was as golden and graceful as her surroundings.

"Sara Sidle, Crime Lab. Agent Kate Todd, NCIS."

"Is there a problem?"

"We're not sure." Kate said. "Do you have a Jason working here?"

The woman raised her eyebrows. "The Bellagio employs over a thousand people. Quite a few of them are named Jason."

"What about people that work at the front desk?" Sara said. "We're specifically looking for a young man in his early twenties. Brown hair, tall, over six feet."

"That sounds like Jason Davis. He's working tonight."

"Can we talk to him?"

"Of course." She walked to the back of the registration area and opened a discreet door. "Jason? There are some people here to talk to you."

Just then, Sara's phone rang. "It's Catherine." she mouthed to Kate and stepped away. "Did you find anything?" she said into the phone.

"Nothing to indicate struggle, and no suicide note. We did find something interesting, though."

"What's that?"

"Ten home pregnancy tests in the wastebasket, all negative."

"Huh."

"Yeah. We're heading back to the lab with them now."

"Okay, we'll see you there."

Just then, a tall, lanky young man walked up to them. He could have been one of a hundred college kids in this town. He was attractive in a boyish sort of way, with wide blue eyes and one of those trying-so-hard "messy" hairdos that a lot of guys had now.

"Hey, howya doing?" He asked, trying for casual, but missing the mark by a mile and landing on "nervous".

"Sara Sidle, Crime Lab." She held out the photograph. "Have you seen this woman?"

He turned pale and stumbled backwards. "Is she...is she okay?" He shook his head. "If she was okay, you wouldn't be here. I knew I shouldn't have left her."

Kate stepped forward. "I think you need to come with us."

**Six**

Grissom and Brass sat calmly across from Jason, as Gibbs paced angrily up and down the length of the interrogation room.

"I swear I was just taking care of her."

"Taking care of her how?" Brass asked.

"I met her at work. I was just getting off my shift, and I noticed her out front, by the water show. She looked so sad."

"Yeah, sad. Maybe a little lonely? Desperate? Does the helpless thing turn you on?" Gibbs growled.

"No, no! Not like that. She just looked so lost." He took a sip of water from the clear tumbler in front of him. "I asked her if she was okay, and she laughed. She said that she was pretty far from okay. She didn't want to talk about it, but she asked me where she could go to party. I was already headed to the Hard Rock, so we went there."

"What happened there?" Grissom asked."

"Nothing. Well, she got drunk. Really drunk. She begged me to go back to her hotel. The Mirage, I think. I made out with her for a bit, but she was nuts. She kept grabbing me." He shifted in his chair.

"Poor you." Brass said.

"Yeah, well, it was weird, you know? I figured she was some kind of nutjob, so I left."

"Really? Then how did you end up at the Gold Spike with her two hours later?"

"She followed me outside. She was a mess, man. That's when she told me her story."

"I'm in the mood for a good story." Gibbs said.

"She was in the Army or something. No - the Navy. Yeah. Anyways, she was supposed to go to Iraq in a few weeks, and she was freaking out about it. Like, seriously freaking out. I mean, why join the Navy if you don't think you're going to war, right?" He shrugged. "Anyways, she figured that, if she got pregnant, she wouldn't have to go and she could still keep her job."

"So she called her boyfriend back home." Grissom said.

"Yeah."

"But it didn't work." Gibbs had stopped pacing and was standing, arms crossed, in front of the two-way mirror.

"Nah, it didn't. And she thought she was running out of time."

"So she went to Vegas, figuring she could get a lot of action without a lot of questions." Brass sighed.

"Exactly." Jason ran his hand through his hair. "Now, I'm not from Vegas originally, but I've lived here long enough to see dumb people get in a lot of trouble pretty quickly here. I thought I'd drive her around, let her get really hammered, and bring her back to her room to sleep it off."

"What went wrong?" Grissom asked.

"We were leaving the Spike, and she was getting more and more upset. I was hoping she'd just pass out, but she kept ranting about her family, and what they'd go through if they had to wait for her to come back from the war. She was really working herself up." He twisted the glass around in his hand. "A few minutes later, she said she had to throw up. I let her out, and she took off into the desert."

Jason put his head in his hands. "I tried to follow her. I did. It was just so damned dark, and there were all these rocks..." he trailed off. "That was the last time I saw her. I swear." he choked.

Brass looked at Grissom, met his eyes, and nodded. "We're going to need a more detailed statement in writing, then you're free to go."

"Thanks." he mumbled.

>>>

Grissom sat in his office, finishing up the endless paperwork that accompanied bringing another agency into a case. He handed the last document to Gibbs to sign. "It's a sad story."

"She knew what she was getting into when she enlisted."

"War is hell." Grissom said softly.

"Yeah, well, from what I've seen, Las Vegas isn't all that great either." Gibbs threw the file on Grissom's desk and walked out.

 

 

 


End file.
